Video arcades re-interpreted

Time was when kids visited video arcades to play their favourite Konami/Nintendo games - slotting in multiple 20-cent pieces to feed their addiction. Accused as a distraction that made bright-eyed bushy-tailed schoolboys wayward, kids in school uniforms were denied entry to these dim and noisy joints.
As technology made it cheaper and easier, these games have found their way into homes, and now thanks to highly configured consoles, kids can now hook them up to flashy flat screen TVs, which reproduce high-definition versions of those games so beloved by kids of yore. Now daddies and sons could enjoy the games and grow obese together.
In the photos were the scenes captured recently at the toy section of a shopping centre, where kids could 'try' before they 'bought', but I suspect, they 'tried' more than they 'bought'. Amazingly, I had a flashback of days gone by when schoolboys crowded a popular arcade game, providing running commentaries, friendly jibes, and generally rallying around a player who's about to get the crap beaten out of him by the villain in the game. The amusing thing was that there was a notice stuck under the console (see red 'Warning' label under the LCD screen) warning players that they would be escorted out if they wore school uniforms while playing with the controller. Some rules rarely change.
Viva Arcade Games!

An evening at Que Pasa and a nice bottle of Bellingham too

Went to this popular watering hole on a Friday evening last week, and we tried the South Africa's Bellingham Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot (vintage 2004) - very nice. Reasonably affordable by local standards, and a good wine too. Subtle mix of fruits, full-bodied-ish, and easy on the palate. Nice aftertaste. The tapas weren't too bad either - served fresh off the pan.

The More I Learn, The Less I Know

...at least that's what I realise after sitting through four to five weeks of classes. The topic of Comparative Global Media Systems looked straightforward enough, but turned out to be otherwise.
Am struggling to make sense of the theories, implications to society, and relate them back to the subject.
As if holding a fulltime job wasn't enough...